Light Up Liberia

By Shanti Kleiman, Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps Liberia recently launched a 36 month European Commission funded (EC) project, Light Up Liberia, in the several counties of Liberia. With the EC’s support, Mercy Corps Liberia will improve access to affordable and sustainable energy services for rural families living in poverty and achieve the following results:

Develop financial products designed to increase access to renewable energy

Improve the enabling environment for private sector energy companies to invest in developing solutions for rural electrification in Liberia, including integrating renewables into vocational education curricula in partner institutions.

Recently the program launched the Liberian Energy Practitioners Network (LEAP) in partnership with the Rural Renewable Energy Agency (RREA) and GIZ EnDev program. The LEAP Network is being set up to support, unify and grow the decentralized clean energy sector in Liberia. It specifically aims to bring together diverse stakeholders across Liberia working to improve energy access for the rural and urban poor. The network will concentrate on the promotion of solar technology and clean cookstoves . Recognizing the role of off-grid energy solutions in positively affecting outcomes in education, health, agriculture, and economic development, the scale of members’ operations is expected to range from Pico solutions to larger, decentralized solar systems, suited for productive uses. The member businesses in the LEAP network are mostly small and medium enterprises.